


Moment of Repose

by clearascountryair



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Female Friendship, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 16:02:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8851252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clearascountryair/pseuds/clearascountryair
Summary: Following Daisy’s return to the team, the (non taken over by evil androids) women of SHIELD slip away for a moment of peace.





	

**Author's Note:**

> thank you, casey, for beta-ing this into making sense

Somehow, despite all the stress and grief of the past twenty-four hours, Jemma thought them to be some of the happiest she had known since god knows when.  She couldn’t remember the last time she had smiled so much without telling herself that she had to.  

It was sad, if she thought about it, actually.  Not knowing the last time smiling was a reaction rather than a chore.

But as she sat there on the couch, she was happy.  So she sat there neither talking nor listening all that closely.  Fitz’s ankle brushed against hers, his arm resting beneath her hand.  He smiled as he listen, his head tilted back to watch Coulson and Daisy, who was talking more than they had heard her talk since--she squeezed Fitz’s arm--since before she could hold him like this.  As she spoke, Daisy combed her fingers through Jemma’s hair and, in that moment, all the trauma and tragedy and pain of the last year (or, rather, years) seemed to vanish.  Jemma shut her eyes and let her head drop to Fitz’s shoulder, her hand running up and down his arm.  Daisy broke off in the middle of whatever she had been saying and immediately bent down over them, whispering in Jemma’s ear,

“Jemma Simmons!  I know what you’re thinking!”

Her hand stilled on Fitz’s arm and she opened her eyes.  “Sorry--I spaced out.”  She smiled as Fitz pressed a discreet kiss to her forehead, bringing his other hand up to cover hers where it rested on his arm.

Daisy laughed.  “Right, yeah.”  She dropped her voice to a whisper and said, “Thinking about Fitz’s...not arm.”

There was a sputter as Fitz choked on his beer and Coulson sighed.

“Melinda!”

Across the room, May looked up, flashing a tight lipped smile as Coulson walked over to her.

Jemma glared up at Daisy.  “I was thinking about how much I missed you, actually.  But now I’m rethinking that.”

Daisy smiled softly.  “I missed you guys.  Even if--”

She broke off suddenly, tugging hard on Jemma’s hair.

“What--”

“Come on!”

She grabbed her arm and it was all Jemma could do to give Fitz and apologetic look as she was dragged by the wrist to where Elena stood in front of the fridge.  Immediately, Daisy took her arm as well.

“Hi?”

Daisy smiled,  but said nothing, simply pulling both with her into the hallway.  Jemma shot a last look at Fitz, but didn’t pull away.  They had forever.  But Daisy was back now and if she was going to stay, there was nothing they wouldn’t do to indulge her.

“Jem?”

“Hm?”

“Is my room still my room?”

Jemma paused for a moment, the question so obvious as to be shocking.

“Yeah,” she said finally.  “Of course.”

Daisy said nothing, but continued walking in that direction.  Behind her back, Elena raised an eyebrow at Jemma.  In response, she could only shrug.

When they stepped into her room, Daisy finally dropped their arms, pausing for a moment to stand in the middle of the room.  For several minutes, there was only silence as they breathed in all that she had left behind.  And then, without warning, she plopped down on her bed, falling back against the pillows.

“Jemma Simmons!  Why does my room smell like your laundry detergent?”

For a moment, Jemma could only respond with a tight lipped smile, and fought the urge to cry.  Even through the worst of times, the happy, bubbly girl she had once known shined through her broken friend, as much a reminder of what there once was as a hope that perhaps she could be that girl the future.  It left Jemma nauseous with the desire to cry for all that Daisy had suffered, but, she was sure, the only thing that would upset her more than those fleeting, desperate moments of happy Daisy breaking through would be if there were none at all.  

And, maybe, Daisy knew this, because she smiled back, small and sad, and patted the mattress.

Giving Elena a hopeless shrug, Jemma kicked off her shoes and crawled up to sit at Daisy’s side.  Tentatively, Elena sat on Daisy’s other side, her shoed feet dangling over the side of the bed.  It was clear that the standard S.H.I.E.L.D. twin bed wasn’t meant for three, but none of them would have considered moving.

Smiling, Daisy gave Elena’s arm a squeeze as she leaned heavily on Jemma’s shoulder.

“Wanna hear something embarrassing?”

Jemma raised an eyebrow.  That hadn’t been what she was expecting.  “Okay?”

“I’m, like, ninety-nine percent sure that Mack would have banged Yo-yo in the hallway if Coulson and I hadn’t walked in one them.”  She wiggled her eyebrows.

For a moment, Jemma could only stare in silence.

Elena, however, gasped and slapped Daisy’s leg.  “Oh my god, your mind is so dirty!”

They all burst out laughing.  It was nice, at last, to have a moment without so many lives dependent on them

But Daisy only shrugged.  “You guys deserve it,” she said, her voice so serious as to startled both Jemma and Elena back to silence.  But the silence was almost maddening and she continued, “It was hot. Be proud.  You traumatized Coulson.  Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. tradition, almost getting caught with someone’s hand down your pants.  Gym’s good, but you gotta watch out for May.  She’s sneaky.”

“ _Daisy!_ ”

“Oh, please!  Like every inch of you and Fitz hasn’t seen every inch of that lab.”

“We would _never_!”

“Bullshit.”

Jemma sighed.  “It would be...beyond unsanitary.”

Elena raised her eyebrow.  “But you’ve thought about it, no?”

Unwilling to be ganged up on, Jemma crossed her ankles and stared ahead, saying nothing.  Under her breath, Elena snorted.

Daisy immediately turned to her.  “You’re thinking about the garage, aren’t you?”

“ _No_!”  

Again, they fell into a fit of laughter.  Jemma let her head fall to Daisy’s shoulder, unable to remember the last time she had laughed so freely.  She laughed until she could barely breathe, miraculously stopping herself before she began to cry.

“I missed you,” she whispered into the silence.  She might have said it before, but this was different.  Before, it was to Agent Johnson.  To Quake.  But she couldn’t remember if she had said so to Daisy yet.

Daisy squeezed her knee.  “I missed you, too.”

“It was lonely without you here.”

Daisy snorted.  “I’m telling Fitz you said that.”

She only barely laughed.  “It’s different.”  She looked down at her lap, winding her fingers together.  “I love him,” she said at last, ignoring the way her voice cracked.  “More than anything.  And as angry as I am at all the time we wasted, I know how lucky I am to be in love with my best friend.”

“But?”

“It’s kind of like losing him in a way, you know?  Because some nights he snores.  Or doesn’t put all his shit away or forgets to switch the laundry to the dryer.  And, um, no one’s mine.”

“Jemma--”

“No, sorry.  That sounds weird.  And I know how you and Fitz are, I know.  But...if I’m annoyed with Fitz, I can’t go vent to Mack about it because Fitz goes to Mack when I’m annoying him, you know?  And you weren’t here.  So I thought, ‘Maybe it will be okay.  Elena will be here and perhaps you’ll get along.’  But then Coulson stepped down and everything fell apart and you weren’t here either.  I don’t...I don’t  blame you.  Either of you.  At all.”

She broke off as Elena reached across Daisy to squeeze Jemma’s knee.  “We know,” she said.

Jemma nodded.  “It’s so, so selfish.  But I miss you.  And...I don’t know--you’d think I’d be used to it by now.  And it’s not like it was when I was younger, but...I don’t know.  May’s got her new team and without either of you here...it feels a bit like I’ve intruded on a secret boys’ club most days.”

Daisy said nothing, simply grabbing Jemma’s hand and resting it on her stomach.  There were two soft _thunks_ as Elena kicked off her shoes.  The bed shifted slightly as she stretched out, reaching over to add her own hand.

“I think I’m going to stay around here for a little bit,” Elena said.

“Just for us?” Daisy asked, and Jemma could hear her smile.

Elena let out a little laugh.  “Shhh,” she said.

None of them were sure how long they sat there in silence.  By the time Mack found them, they were all fast asleep, and he would not disturb such a rare moment of peace.

(He would, however, absolutely take pictures that he and Fitz would joke for _years_ about setting as the official S.H.I.E.L.D. computer wallpaper)


End file.
